Most decorated · 15 medals and honours, 1 for gallantry
Colonel Colonel Rudd
Laurence Rudd was a teenage private who was captured at Meteren in April 1918 and spent the last months of the First World War as a German prisoner. Twenty-three years later, as a Major in the New Zealand Engineers, he was among those who held the Corinth Canal crossing in Greece and won the DSO. He later served as Military Secretary to the 2NZEF commander, was made an OBE for services in Italy, and commanded the reception group for returning New Zealand prisoners in Britain, which with his service medals gives him thirteen distinct items.
15medals and honours
1of them for gallantry
His medals and honours
Won for gallantry
Gallantry award
Distinguished Service Order (DSO)
26 April 1941 (act); gazetted 30 December 1941 · Corinth Canal, Greece · Major, 6 Field Company / Divisional Engineers, 2nd NZ Division
Gazetted: London Gazette 35396 (supplement dated 30 Dec 1941, published 26 Dec 1941), p.7334; citation printed in NZ Gazette 21 Sept 1944 per Cenotaph
Rudd was a Major in the New Zealand Engineers during the withdrawal from Greece in April 1941. The official history says he had been acting Commander Royal Engineers for the division and rejoined headquarters in an olive grove south of the Corinth Canal in the early hours of 26 April, shortly before German paratroops dropped on the canal bridge at dawn. When the attack came, 6 Field Company was split up and overwhelmed. The official history has him going forward towards the bridge, meeting survivors of No. 2 Section and withdrawing with them towards Argos. His citation, as copied on the Online Cenotaph, praises his leadership and devotion to duty: it says he made sure the vital Corinth bridge was destroyed, then fought a delaying action with survivors of his field company and other units, and finally led them about twenty miles across country to safety, his coolness and judgement helping to save a desperate situation. The award was gazetted among a long Middle East list for February-July 1941, alongside other New Zealanders such as Lieutenant-Colonels Dittmer and Twhigg and Major Harford.
The Gazette of 30 Dec 1941 prints the name only; the citation wording is taken from the Cenotaph, which cites the NZ Gazette of 21 Sept 1944 (not seen). The official history gives the demolition and the stand on the ground more to Captain Kelsall and others, and has Rudd withdrawing with survivors towards Argos; the Cenotaph citation is more generous. Treat the detail of who blew the bridge as unresolved. Cenotaph gives DSO only, no bar.
Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette issue 35396, supplement dated 30 Dec 1941 (published 26 Dec 1941), p.7334 (read); Official History of NZ in the Second World War, 'Greece' (Davin), chapter 19, nzetc.victoria.ac.nz tei-WH2Gree-c19 (read via National Library web archive); Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph record C36367 (https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C36367; award list and WW1/WW2 notes read via api.aucklandmuseum.com)
Every other medal and honour (14)
British War Medal 1914-201917-1918 (service); issued after the war · France / Germany (as a prisoner)Qualifying service: overseas with the NZEF from August 1917, including the 1918 fighting at Meteren and seven months as a prisoner of war.Victory Medal1917-1918 (service); issued after the war · France / Germany (as a prisoner)Awarded with the British War Medal for the same First World War service in a theatre of war.King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 19356 May 1935 (list published) · AucklandIssued as a Territorial officer to mark the King's Silver Jubilee in 1935.Coronation Medal 1937May 1937 · AucklandIssued as a Territorial officer to mark the coronation of King George VI.Efficiency Decoration (ED)By August 1943 (exact date not found) · New ZealandLong and efficient service as a part-time officer: Territorial Force engineers 1922-39, including command of 1 Field Company from 1934.1939-1945 Star1940-1945 · Greece, Crete, Middle EastOperational service with 2NZEF, including the Greek campaign of 1941.Africa Star1941-1943 · Egypt, Western DesertService in the North African theatre (Egypt and the Western Desert).Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE, military)21 June 1945 (gazetted) · Italy / Mediterranean theatreRudd's OBE was announced in the Gazette of 19 June 1945 in a list of New Zealand appointments 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy'. He is listed as Colonel Laurence Frederick Rudd, DSO, ED…Defence Medal1944-1945 · United KingdomNon-operational service in Britain while commanding the 2NZEF Prisoners of War Reception Group from 1944.War Medal 1939-1945 (with oak leaf)1939-1945Full-time war service in the Second World War; the oak leaf is the mention in despatches, which is counted once above.New Zealand War Service Medal1946 (instituted) · New Zealand / overseasAwarded for full-time war service between 3 Sept 1939 and 2 Sept 1945.New Zealand Territorial Service Medal (NOT COUNTED)New ZealandListed by the Cenotaph but not counted: this medal (12 years, instituted 1911) was replaced in 1931, and the Cenotaph gives his Territorial service as 1922-39, so he could not have completed 12 years before it ended.Listed on the Online Cenotaph, not yet confirmedNew Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medal (NOT COUNTED)New ZealandListed by the Cenotaph but not counted: this medal ended on 22 Sept 1931 and needed 16-20 years of service; he was born in 1898 and had only about nine Territorial years by 1931.Listed on the Online Cenotaph, not yet confirmedMentioned in DespatchesWW2, date not foundOne mention in despatches for his Second World War service; the oak leaf is worn on the War Medal 1939-1945.
His story
Schoolboy cadet in Auckland
Born in January 1898, the son of Minchin Rudd of Mt Eden. He attended New Plymouth High School (1911) and then Auckland Grammar School (1911-14), where he was in the cadets, and worked as a law clerk before enlisting.
Source: Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph C36367
Enlists and sails for Britain
He enlisted in April 1917 at 19 and went into A Company of the 29th Reinforcements, Auckland Infantry Regiment. The draft embarked at Wellington on the Mokoia (HMNZT 91) on 13 August 1917 and reached Britain on 2 October.
Serving with the 2nd Entrenching Battalion near Meteren, he tried to withdraw under fire, was wounded in the left forearm and was taken prisoner. He was treated in German hospitals, then worked at the Phoenix Steel Works in the Harder camp. After the Armistice he and his fellow prisoners refused to keep working despite threats. He was repatriated through Holland and discharged on 23 April 1919.
Source: Online Cenotaph C36367 (quoting his POW statement of 6 Dec 1918, Archives NZ R24428188)
Auckland lawyer and Territorial engineer
He took his LLB in 1922 and became a partner in the Auckland firm Rudd, Garland (later Rudd, Garland and Horrocks). In the Territorial Force from 1922, in the Corps of Engineers, he commanded 1 Field Company, NZ Engineers, from 1934 to 1939. He was a Major when the Jubilee Medal list appeared in May 1935.
Source: Online Cenotaph C36367; Evening Post 6 May 1935
Greece and the Corinth Canal
Enlisting again in 1940 at 42, he embarked on 5 January 1940 with 6 Field Company in the 2nd Echelon. In the Greek campaign he served as acting CRE for the division, and on 26 April 1941 he was at Corinth when German paratroops struck the canal crossing; he led survivors out.
Source: Online Cenotaph C36367; Official History, 'Greece', ch. 19
DSO gazetted
His Distinguished Service Order appeared in the Gazette in a list of Middle East awards for February-July 1941, covering Greece and Crete.
Source: London Gazette 35396, p.7334
Military Secretary, then Italy
Promoted Military Secretary to the GOC 2NZEF in 1942, he was at Maadi in August 1943 (portrait caption) and visited the United States before speaking to an Auckland audience in October 1943 about the need for reinforcements. He was in Italy by late 1943 and photographed at Santo Spirito in May 1944.
Source: Online Cenotaph C36367; Evening Post 7 Oct 1943; National Library NZ photographs 22897768, 23018694
Reception group for returned prisoners
From 1944 he commanded the 2NZEF Prisoners of War Reception Group in Britain, welcoming repatriated New Zealanders in October 1944 (a poignant job for a former prisoner). He was an additional member of a British legal mission to Greece in 1945, and the Gazette of 19 June 1945 named him a Colonel and OBE. He stayed in Britain until 12 November 1946 and passed to the Reserve of Officers.
He returned to the law, became president of the Auckland Officers' Club and of the Auckland RSA branch, and served as honorary consul for the Philippines. He died on 8 March 1973, aged 75, and is buried at St Andrew's, Epsom.
Source: Online Cenotaph C36367; death notice NZ Herald 9 Mar 1973
Rank and insignia
The ranks he held, and the badge a soldier of that rank wore. These are simplified illustrations.
PrivateApril 1917 to April 1919 · NZEFNo rank badge: a private soldier wore noneMajorby 6 May 1935 (OC 1 Field Company 1934-39) · Territorial ForceShoulder strap: crownMajorembarked 5 January 1940; Major at Corinth, April 1941 · 2NZEFShoulder strap: crownLieutenant-Colonelby August 1943 (Military Secretary to GOC 2NZEF from 1942)Shoulder strap: crown and one pipColonelby June 1945 (Gazette); Cenotaph says promoted Colonel in 1946Shoulder strap: crown and two pips
His ships
Mokoia (HMNZT 91)Troopship to Britain, 13 Aug-2 Oct 1917Carried the 29th Reinforcements; master Brown, Officer Commanding Troops Captain H. Seddon Hills.Strathaird (HMT Z3)2nd Echelon, 5 January 1940Embarked as a Major with 6 Field Company, NZ Engineers (Cenotaph).Nieuw AmsterdamThird embarkation, with HQ 2NZEFDate not given in the Cenotaph record; presumably his 1943 trip to the United States, which a newspaper report mentions.
Afterwards
After the war he went back to his Auckland law practice and to public life. He was president of the Auckland Officers' Club and of the Auckland RSA branch, honorary consul for the Republic of the Philippines, and a married man with four children. His daughter remembered that while he was Military Secretary at 2NZEF headquarters he was known there as 'God'.
He died of cancer on 8 March 1973, aged 75, and was buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's, Epsom; a memorial plaque in the church also remembers him.
Later awards, not counted here: Distinguished Service Order (1941); Mention in Despatches; OBE (1945); Efficiency Decoration; 1939-1945 Star; Africa Star; Defence Medal; War Medal 1939-1945; NZ War Service Medal.
This is the Service Record sign as we would make it from his record: his rank, name, regiment, number and date of embarkation. The medals on the sign are worked out automatically, so the medals listed above are the ones to rely on.
The Service Record
Photograph
We haven’t hosted a photograph here
Rather than copy someone else’s image onto our own site, we’d rather send you to see it where it’s properly held: his full record at the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Online Cenotaph.
WW1 service confirmed: Private 56356, NZEF, embarked 13 Aug 1917, captured 16 Apr 1918, discharged 23 Apr 1919. He is a Second World War officer far more than a First World War one; nothing argues against listing him as a New Zealander of that war, but his WW1 role was as a young private and prisoner, and he held no WW1 award other than the two campaign medals.
Brief said service no. 56356: correct per Cenotaph. His own POW statement quotes 56366, which is probably a typing slip.
Counting: 13 items (DSO, OBE, MiD, ED, Jubilee 1935, Coronation 1937, BWM, Victory, 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, Defence Medal, War Medal, NZ War Service Medal). Two Cenotaph entries are NOT counted: New Zealand Territorial Service Medal and New Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medal, because both medals had closed by 1931 and his Territorial service only began in 1922 (and he holds the ED as an officer). If the Cenotaph is accepted at face value the total is 15.
Cenotaph-only, not independently confirmed: Mention in Despatches (gazette entry not found), Coronation Medal 1937, Africa Star, Defence Medal, 1939-45 Star, War Medal, NZ War Service Medal, and the First World War campaign medals. Confirmed in primary sources: DSO (London Gazette 30 Dec 1941), OBE (London Gazette 21 Jun 1945), ED (post-nominals in the 1945 Gazette), Jubilee Medal 1935 (Evening Post).
Italy Star: not listed by the Cenotaph and not counted, but he served in Italy from late 1943 and 1944 and would normally have qualified for it. The Cenotaph's list may be incomplete; this is the most likely missing item.
DSO citation wording comes from the Cenotaph (citing NZ Gazette, 21 Sept 1944); the 1941 London Gazette entry is name only. The official history credits other officers with the demolition and the stand on the ground; Rudd is placed on the south side of the canal and then withdrawing with survivors towards Argos.
Rank: the 1945 Gazette calls him Colonel; the Cenotaph says he was promoted Colonel in 1946. The 1943 and 1944 sources call him Lieutenant-Colonel. Date of full colonelcy unclear.
Cenotaph shows two photograph records and a 'Lawrence' alternative spelling; nickname 'God' is a family anecdote from his daughter.
